Bank of America Profit Up 41 Percent

Bank of America Corp. (BAC.N: Quote, Profile, Research) , the No. 3 U.S. bank, on Wednesday said quarterly profit rose 41 percent, helped by the purchase of FleetBoston Financial Corp. and higher consumer and commercial lending.
The Charlotte, North Carolina-based company said second-quarter net income rose to $3.85 billion, or $1.86 per share, from $2.74 billion, or $1.80 per share, a year earlier.
Results included pre-tax charges of $125 million, or 4 cents per share, tied to the bank's $48 billion purchase of Fleet, which closed on April 1.
Analysts polled by Reuters Estimates on average forecast profit of $1.74 per share, excluding items. Profit included $795 million of one-time gains as the bank sold bonds, expecting interest rates to rise.

This is one of my economics things, a la Marshall Brain's Concentration of Wealth. Sure, the stock is up $1.74 a share. But every household in America (assuming for the moment that the vast majority of profit came from the United States; hey, look at their name, after all!) coughed up over $35 so they could make that profit. In just the second quarter. Over a year, that means we'd be giving up about $150 per household, just for Bank of America. And according to this, they're only the third largest bank in the U.S.
If you want to see more about why this kind of thing gets on my tits so, check out Marshall Brain's Concentration of Wealth, like I said (plug, plug).